George Stephenson

Bow Valley Innovations (BVI) has the worldwide patent pending rights to an innovative carbon-capture technology developed at the University of Calgary by Dr. George Shimizu and his team.

Metal-organic frameworks (“MOFs”) are a network of metal ions bridged by organic molecules. Dr. Shimizu’s research into MOFs led to the development of the CALF-20 framework, a “solid sponge”, in which the pore sizes are optimized to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules.

The robust nature of the framework should enable deployment directly into a flue-gas stream, for example, capturing CO2 at source. Due to the lower energy requirements compared to other CO2 capture systems, the CALF-20 method should result in much lower costs for end users to meet future emissions standards. Capture costs under $20/tonne CO2 are expected.

The CREATE grant program, with its multi-disciplinary approach, should enable the participants to achieve future implementation of technologies such as CALF-20. The many stages of development and commercialization involve everything from pure science research, through engineering and scaling-up, to understanding and acceptance by industry and the general public. The latter steps involve legal and regulatory aspects, and individuals with a broad knowledge base from the CREATE program, would be invaluable in the ultimate successful deployment of innovations such as BVI’s CALF-20 framework.